Tag: COVID-19

Covid’s Harem

Published on by @DwPolk1 Comment

i chew mint gum
behind my mask at
whole foods, walk by the
organic cherries, putting
their shiny bulbs into
the cart

our eyes dart out
looking at one another, we’ve
gotten used to this
toothless, lipless existence
as if we are helplessly in
covid’s harem, all of us

unhappy wives
plucking up frozen pizzas
following aisle arrows
in the direction away
from looming sickness
that saturates everything

with its statistics and
endless news of how this
will continue unabated
but still we eat the
sweet cherries, hoping
to one day be free

Enduring 2020

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introvert, he is one
quiet with his time
passing the days like
a sleeping couch dog
not to say he

doesn’t pay attention to
it all, the unraveling
of life in this
magical year of screens
and awful virus dreams

breathing is so much
of the hours, in silence
content and aware that
maybe there really is
nothing more important

COVID-19 Passes The Vietnam War

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and when the virus
constricted air from over
58,220 lungs, no one
came to the door
informing us of death’s
arrival, no uniformed soldier’s
solemn words to comfort
ventilator’s failure to save
lives, this war of
no bullets, no answers
to the endless quest
for vaccine’s hopeful solace

we look to blame
those who cannot contain
this invisble reaper, as
if this were one
person’s fault, as if
we could just drop
a nuke and make
it all go away
instead we walk by
black granite names, mourning
the many more, expiring
with each passing day

Freedom During Quarantine

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these evenings I stay up
late, just to see what has
accumulated during quarantine
days, overabundant family
time, the same dog walks
over and over, this darkened
hour is the only quiet space
without Zoom, or TikTok,
Netflix, or email invading
every minute, here I am
again, pretending to write
poems, freedom disguised
as ink words on a page

Presence and the Virus

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and in the midst
of this uncertainty, as
time stands still in
houses, on streets where

dogs are walked five
times a day, and
women, men, wear masks
to stop the virus

within all this, i
sit next to my
son’s slumber and feel
only peace and calm

because this is our
moment, and all is
quiet, and the world
only exists right now

Media Journalist During COVID-19

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i work for
the new york
times, or politico
or fox, or
cnn, or any
of the flat
screened word factories
that exist to
educate, speculate, divide
conquer the masses
fixated on their
iphones, ipads, laptops

so we guess
about escalating death
rates, about what
has already gone
wrong, and all
the things we
still don’t know
about ventilators and
arrogant millennials, and
west virginians who
are not impacted
by our hysteria

but we keep
typing and posting
because we must
capitalize on all
the eyeballs stuck
at home, sheltering
in our sentences
and photos, following
our every word
about economy on
the brink of
massive global recession

and when this
finally ends, how
many lives will
we take, who
will count the
minutes that were
spent reading and
reading, and scrolling
hours of time
we robbed from
the worried, who
should’ve known better

-Author’s note: I’m 100% in favor of citizens staying informed about the news regarding COVID-19, however, I do believe that we need to carefully monitor how much time we spend endlessly reading articles that serve to churn up further worry and speculation.

The News

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is worried about the economy
and about the virus and
how the two are connected

about cruise ships that
sail sick people in their midst
and so, day after day

men in suits, women with lipstick
grin or frown into cameras, on
screens, talk about stocks

descending, and this goes on
and on, day after day, as we
watch quarantines, death counts

following along, witnessing
global pandemic with a smile
and a grimace